The team that made you cry with Before Your Eyes just delivered another emotional gut-punch, but this time you’re playing as a six-month-old baby with psychic powers. Goodnight Universe launched on November 11, 2025, and critics are already calling it one of the year’s most ambitious narrative experiences. With an OpenCritic score of 82 and reviews praising its heartbreaking story, this isn’t your typical indie game.
Playing As a Genius Baby Trapped in Tiny Form
Goodnight Universe puts you in control of Isaac, a seven-month-old infant voiced by Lewis Pullman who discovers he’s fundamentally different from other babies. From birth, Isaac possesses adult-level intelligence, fluent thinking, and problem-solving abilities far beyond his age. The twist that makes this game emotionally complex – Isaac also has telekinetic and telepathic powers, letting him move objects with his mind and read the thoughts of everyone around him.
The premise might sound like Boss Baby on steroids, but developers Graham Parkes and Oliver Lewin from Nice Dream studio quickly subvert expectations. Isaac realizes he must continue pretending to be a normal baby to avoid concerning his parents, creating a fascinating dynamic where he’s an intelligent consciousness trapped in an infant’s body. This setup becomes the vehicle for exploring family secrets, as Isaac’s relatives reveal sides of themselves they’d never show around an older child, not realizing this baby understands every word.
Eye-Tracking Returns But With New Tricks
Like the team’s award-winning Before Your Eyes, Goodnight Universe supports optional eye-tracking and facial recognition through your webcam. But this time the technology serves different purposes. Instead of blinking to advance time like its predecessor, Goodnight Universe uses eye-tracking for supernatural abilities that feel genuinely magical.
The standout mechanic involves telepathy. You close your eyes and turn your head like a radar dish, searching for mental signals from family members. Once locked in, you hear their internal monologues through your headphones. Reviewers specifically highlighted this feature as creating storytelling moments impossible in traditional games. The webcam also detects smiles and frowns, letting Isaac communicate emotions he can’t yet express through words.
Unlike Before Your Eyes where blinking was intrinsically tied to the story’s themes about fleeting time, Goodnight Universe treats face-tracking as an optional enhancement rather than the core experience. Nice Dream recognized many Before Your Eyes players preferred traditional controls, so they ensured the game remains fully enjoyable with just a controller. The accessibility options are extensive, letting players toggle eye tracking, facial expression detection, and head movement independently.
A Story That Takes Bigger Risks
Reviews consistently describe Goodnight Universe as stranger and more ambitious than Before Your Eyes. The narrative starts familiar but quickly veers into unexpected territory before circling back to deliver an emotionally devastating finale. GameSpot’s review noted that many players will think they know what they’re getting, only to experience something quite different before the bittersweet ending shifts everything.
The game centers on Isaac’s relationship with his grandfather, creating a poignant mirror between a baby at the beginning of life and an elderly man approaching its end. The supporting cast includes voice performances from Kerri Kenney-Silver, Al Madrigal, Tessa Espinola, Timothy Simons, and Sarah Burns. The story explores themes of family dysfunction, evil tech companies, and the weight of keeping secrets from those who love you.
While the narrative doesn’t have branching paths, players get to flavor scenes with minor choices. When Isaac becomes self-aware, you choose how he completes the thought “a baby is” with options like “a kind of deity” or “a torture device.” These choices don’t alter major plot points but let you shape Isaac’s perspective on his bizarre existence.
Critics Are Crying Over This Baby
Checkpoint Gaming gave Goodnight Universe one of its strongest endorsements, calling it “incredibly immersive, masterfully told, and cathartic” – a game that made the reviewer cry on multiple occasions. They specifically praised how the mechanics directly tie player actions to what they described as an undeniably moving, human story about love and family.
GameSpot noted the game employs similar emotional tricks to Before Your Eyes but takes bigger risks along the way. The ending delivers what they called an “emotionally messy, loving, gut-punch of a finale.” Gamespew emphasized the game’s ability to surprise and delight in equal measure, warning that saying too much would ruin the experience.
The artistic presentation earned consistent praise as well. The vivid animated art style and soundtrack work together to express each emotional moment. Game Informer specifically highlighted the telepathy mechanic combined with headphones as creating memorable instances of storytelling unique to video games.
From Before Your Eyes to Psychic Powers
Nice Dream studio was formed by Graham Parkes and Oliver Lewin specifically after working on Before Your Eyes at their previous studio. While creating that game, they dreamed up other creative uses for eye-tracking technology that didn’t fit with its design or story. Before Your Eyes used blinking and closed eyes to create metaphorical magic around themes of memory and time, but the team wanted to explore more literal supernatural powers.
The developers revealed they initially considered multiple story structures before committing to making the entire game about Isaac’s infancy. They realized the emotional resonance came from exploring that specific feeling of being hyper-intelligent but trapped in a form that can’t properly communicate. At six months old, Isaac exists at that preverbal age where people reveal their true selves around him, not realizing he comprehends everything.
FAQs
What is Goodnight Universe about?
Goodnight Universe is a narrative adventure game where you play as Isaac, a six-month-old baby with adult-level intelligence and psychic powers including telepathy and telekinesis. The story explores family secrets, corporate evil, and the relationship between Isaac and his grandfather.
When did Goodnight Universe release?
Goodnight Universe launched on November 11, 2025 for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2. The game was announced in April 2024, about 18 months before release.
Do you need a webcam to play Goodnight Universe?
No, the webcam is completely optional. While eye-tracking and facial recognition enhance the experience by letting you control psychic powers with your face, the game is fully playable with traditional controller or mouse and keyboard controls. You can toggle eye tracking, facial detection, and head movement independently.
Who developed Goodnight Universe?
Goodnight Universe was developed by Nice Dream, a studio formed by Graham Parkes and Oliver Lewin who previously worked on Before Your Eyes. The game is published by Skybound Games and features voice acting from Lewis Pullman as Isaac.
How is Goodnight Universe different from Before Your Eyes?
While both games use optional eye-tracking technology, Goodnight Universe focuses on literal psychic powers rather than metaphorical time progression through blinking. The new game takes bigger narrative risks with a stranger story, though it still delivers an emotional finale. Eye-tracking feels more optional this time rather than core to the themes.
What is the critical reception for Goodnight Universe?
Goodnight Universe has an OpenCritic score of 82, rated as Strong after being reviewed by 21 critics. It ranks in the top 11 percent of games on the platform. Reviews consistently praise its emotional storytelling, innovative use of eye-tracking for telepathy, and devastating ending.
How long is Goodnight Universe?
Goodnight Universe is a narrative-focused experience that typically takes several hours to complete. The game is relatively linear and hands-off, with emphasis placed on experiencing the story rather than complex gameplay mechanics or multiple playthroughs.
Conclusion
Goodnight Universe proves the team behind Before Your Eyes wasn’t a one-hit wonder. By combining a bizarre premise with genuinely innovative controls and emotionally resonant storytelling, Nice Dream has delivered one of 2025’s most talked-about narrative experiences. The psychic baby concept could have easily become a gimmick, but instead becomes the foundation for exploring family dysfunction, the burden of secrets, and the strange experience of consciousness itself. Whether you play with eye-tracking or traditional controls, critics agree the game delivers powerful emotional moments that stick with you long after the credits roll. For anyone who enjoyed Before Your Eyes or wants to experience storytelling that pushes video game boundaries, Goodnight Universe deserves your attention – just make sure you have tissues ready.